


We are not who we are

by rivkat



Category: Fringe
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-25
Updated: 2009-12-25
Packaged: 2017-10-05 06:33:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rivkat/pseuds/rivkat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Jakrar: Peter finds out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We are not who we are

Peter’s elbows were propped up on the table, his face buried in his hands, when she entered the room. It had been designed for interrogations; the knob clicked shut behind her and the blinds clacked a little, the only sound in the room while the vibrations died down.

“Peter?” Olivia hesitated, then put her hand on Peter’s shoulder. He didn’t move; his muscles were like rock under her fingers. “Peter, as much as I’d prefer that you could deal with this in your own way and your own time, I know you understand how significant this revelation is. We need to see if there are physical signs, something that could be tracked, some evidence of the trauma of transitioning—”

She pulled back just in time to avoid Peter’s wild lunge, not an assault but a desperate bid for freedom, bolting towards the door. But he was shaking, so much so that he couldn’t manage the doorknob, and she managed to swing him around so that she was holding him, rocking him as he began to sob, open and desperate.

Her arms cramped and then her calves, but she stayed in position until he was quiet. Her suit was probably ruined. It wouldn’t be the first she’d lost to fringe science; it was the first she didn’t begrudge.

“You know the worst thing?” Peter asked, speaking into her shoulder. “The worst thing isn’t the lies, or the differences I thought were just me being crazy. The worst thing is that he did that to my mother and my father. My father was so _selfish_ that he took me away from himself. What kind of man--?”

Olivia tried not to flinch. Her experience with fathers was not going to help her here, and until Peter had said so she hadn’t really put the pieces together. Two worlds but only one Peter. And if the other Walter had known the same things, shouldn’t he have crossed over to fight for Peter? Was there some barrier, some reason he couldn’t? Was this Walter smarter, or just more motivated?

She hugged him closer, curled over so that she could speak into his ear. She couldn’t say she was sorry, or that she understood. “Peter, you’re not alone. We will figure this out, and I will be with you every step of the way.”

He made a low animal sound, nothing like she’d ever heard, but he clutched at her as if he believed her.

“Maybe there’s not more than one of everything,” she said. “But we’re here, and we can fight. We can fight, Peter.”

When she felt him nod, she closed her eyes and just held him, letting him grieve. There’d be time for fighting soon enough.


End file.
